Dawnless Earth, The End Begins
by AutumnStarr
Summary: Book one of three of the Dawnless Earth SGA/Terminator corssover series, Sian from Last Sunrise is in her own time now, and troubles have started for the present time. Can the Team rejoin through time with Sian and survive this new world? Enjoy
1. The start of the end

A/N: What Sian truly is will be explained during the next three chapters, by chapter four a good history of what she, Thief and Snatcher truly are well be told.

Atlantis 2009  
Earth: San Fransico Bay

Rodney paced in Woosley's office, six months ago had seen the arivial and departure of a woman from the future, and new technology that only the Ancients could have dreamed up. And the bad thing about it was mostly that Rodney hated what was going on anyhow. Not that it mattered if he hated anything going on. The womans arrival, and her sudden leaving left much to be desired. Now Rodney was trying to stay as sane as he could to figure out what was going on. Already the Air Force had started a group called the Cyberdeck Research Core. And their current best program which Rodney had helped write the basecode for, was called Skynet. And already several networks around the globe were affefcted by cyber attacks, well everywhere but Atlantis. Nothing got past their shields, not even internet virii.

"Tell me again what is going on Rodney." Woosley said with caution in his voice. He too did not liek the way things were going. None of them did.

"Well, If the reports are right which i'm sure they are, something is attacking and either knocking out or totally rewriting the data of several networks, mostly cellphone and radio networks, two way radios are useless, as well as cellphones, currently only a tracphone would do you only so much until you need a landline" Rodney said.

"And that's bad how?" John asked from where he said in the easy chair in the office, Rodney had called the team to the office before breakfast, and even then John was cranky. No Coke before breakie, equals bad and everyone knew it when around John.

"Well, if my thoughts are right then Sian was telling the truth about Skynet, and I helped design the basecode for it. Only thing was that when it was uploaded into a airforce computer two weeks ago did the reports of power and networks dying start." Rodney said, If that was right, and Rodney designed the very basic basecode for the system, only it went self aware.

"Is there a way we can tell Sian?" Teyla asked. Sian did say that after meeting with the Atlantis team and going back home the war against the machines was won. Mostly. the Earth was toasted, so they had to find a new home, and Skynet had taken the location of the SGC as its homebase.

"Its been six months since we met Sian, I doubt we can send a notice from the past to the future, the time dilation field doesn't work that way." Rodney said, he himself barely understood how it worked, but then Sian had told him what to do and how to get her back home in one piece.

"Worth a try anyhow. Rodney, look, six months ago Sian said that Skynet went live on October tenth ten am eastern of this year, that's tomorrow morning. Now I'll let myself get shot before anything happens to this city" John said. He meant it too.

"Right yeah, but there's only one problem. Even though I wrote the basic basecode for Skynet, it evolved to the point wherein trying to rewrite anything would make it aggressive" Rodney said, they all remembered what happened with the replicators two years before.

"Yeah there is that little problem too so that idea is out then I take it?" John said, Rodney nodded, yep that plan was out. "Is the shield up." He got another nod, that was good, the city was both shielded and cloaked. perfect.

"Now what?"

"We wait for tomorrow"

"What? We wait? don't we want to try and shut this thing down? Nothing works out there we can't even contact the Daedalus for gods sakes Colonel" Rodney said sounding as if he was going to blow a bloodvessel.

"Yeah, I noticed that. you think it is Skynet."

"No shit sherlock!" Rodney retored.

"Gentlemen calm down, all we know is what Sian told us six months ago to be ready for the tenth, Rodney, you made the basecode, how long ago was that?" Richard asked.

"When the SGC was having that trouble with Anubis, Sam asked me to write a bascode to help disengage the stargate, it didn't work, then I redid a few parts during the Replicator battle for the Asgard." Rodney said

"So it was a few years ago that Skynet was actually created?"

"It looks like it"

"OK, Gentlemen and Ladies, you have six hours to disengage every airforce computer. McKay, I want you to make a totally new version of Skynet, only in this case, to act like a replicator virus during the shutting down fo the stargate network." Richard said.

"Six hours? I can't do that in six hours, for all i know if we try to shut down any air force machines it might start the thing off, you saw what the data contained that Sians friends sent to us when seeking help and warning of incoming invasion" Rodney said sounding scared out of his mind.

"Just do it" Richard said. Rodney couldn't argue with that now could he?

****

October 10; 2028; 0208 am  
Skynet factory; Ruins of Shanghai

_This has to work, this just has to._ Sian thought, the last six months had been hell, Rodney had sent the T-182 to its death, Sweetheart also sfaely returned with her, but something else had been done to Sian herself. Anything machinery unless made for her to use, broke when she touched it, or refused to work. Then other things started happening. First she thought them just dreams, but they ended up being worse. She didn't blame Rodney McKay, he was trying to help, and he got them both home. She blamed Skynet, they had nabbed her again leaving Sweetheart on his own.

She never expected it, but after waking up inside a odd room, not an experimentation room, but a glass room, she had freaked out, what happened? What was going on? Then the gas happened, she passed out. Hours later she woke up, out on the streets somewhere, Thief stood over her prone form, worried no doubt, "What happened?" She asked slowly getting to her feet with Thiefs help. Thief looked white as a sheet. "What is it?"

Instead of answering right away Thief just stared at her friend for a full minute, which made Sian worried, "Thief?" She snapped her fingers, "snap out of it, what's wrong? You look sick." Sian had no idea what had happened when the gas knocked her out, how long ago was that? Then she felt it, a draft on her back. She passed it off as something normal, that is, until something touched her between the shoulderblades. Sian turned around, "Snatcher?" Nobody was there, the touch came again, was Thief playing jokes? Apparently not because she held her frimly..... by what? "What is that?" Sian asked seeing it as she turned back, it seemed to come from behind her.

It was a odd, mothlike wing, torn in many places, and burned as well, the pattern of the faberic like thing matched Sians clothing, black and red. And injured. Thief gave a fake smile and said simply "Well.... its hooked to you, you have four of these... .things...." She said trying to sound upbeat when she was in fact scared out of her mind. "let me try something" Thief said and gave a yank on the .... thing...

Instant pain shot through Sian nearly sending her to her knees. With a strangled cry she said to Thief "Don't.... do that.... again!" She leaned against a building, or rather, what was left of one. sunrise was coming on and things got brighter, allowing Sian to see what exactly Thief had pulled on in a broken window. Her eyes opened wide, she stared at her reflection. Staring back at her was a woman, with gossomar wings of the blackest black and reddest red. Did Skynet do it? She had to be dreaming.

Thief just stood there, "You look....... different" She said.

"How differnet?" Sian asked, her overall body and face hadn't changed, other then the wings.

"Well... you have wings." Thief said not missing a beat, if there was a laugh track Sian could surly hear it going off right then and there.

"No, really? whatever tipped you off?" Sian asked all of a sudden horrified of what the team would try to do to her. "What about the others?" she watched her reflection, thinking of folding down the wings, which they did, folding flat to her back. Now she looked, normal as anyone with wings folded against their back would look.

"Uhm, about them." Thief said.

"What about about the team?" Sian asked staring at herself in the broken window. "What happened while I was gone? How long was I gone?"

"Well, you went through the datafield, a T-182 shortly followed, about a day after you left, two days later Snatcher and I sent Sweetheart after you. Then a week later we came across Sweetheart in a lone ranger type battle. Never found you until now. Most of the team is gone. Dead. Terminators got to them, there's a MH and several HKs that have pretty much made Shanghai their bathroom." Thief said sitting on the hood of a blasted car, her brown hair framing a elflike face.

Sian turned around, "When did you guys find Sweetheart?" She asked, she looked like hell and she knew it, but felt.... great.

"About a month ago." Came the answer.

Sian went slackjawed, she'd been gassed for that long? Then she noticed how starving she was. Thief must have thought ahead and handed her something, a stimcell bar. Which seemed to help. "I was gone a month?" She asked.

"Apparently so, some crewmen reported seeing something with large wings, they reported it as a giant moth, nothing more, the nuclear radiation of the bombs must have messed with the natural order of things I think. But apparently it is not so." Thief said, "I went looking for this giant moth and found you instead."

"Oh so that's it? I'm a giant moth? Where's Snatcher?"

"Missing"

"For how long?"

"A day... maybe more"

"Have a radio?"

"Yup" The radio was passed over. only to have it die in Sians hands.

"OK, this isn't good." She said handing the radio back to Thief, it powered right up. "Call the team together, those that are still alive, tell them you found me..... mostly. And tell them to meet up at the harbor. And not to panic, I'm going to try something." Six months later her trying became more then just trying, it became a will to survive, more and more foods she used to love to eat she could not even go near, much less smell. Now she had just barely convinced her comrades to let her do this mission alone, the less people who could be detected the better, that and she was getting the hang of flying for once as well.

Standing at a air vent leading out of the Shanghai factory Sian took a deep breath and tried ot remember why exactly she was there. _I hope this works._ She thought before flipping open the vent and dropping into the factory. It was her only chance she had, years ago she had met with the people from Atlantis, and had been helped by them, now she had to try and get back there, to warn them of what was about to happen with Skynet. It had made a mobile base, and it was headed for the famed Old City in the sky.


	2. Conversation through Time

Atlantis 2009

John held a cup of coffee in one hand, and was typing with the other. So far things have gone well, Rodney was making a new basecode to be the enemy of skynet, and John was trying to not think about what was going to happen the next day. Rodney came running into the control room.

"I think I got it" He yelled

"I hope it is not spreadable" John muttered

"Haha, look, Skynet is based in computers around the world, the only way it can go live is if one in the Air Force hit the yes command when asked to do so." Rodney said.

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Meaning we'd have to find a way to keep those bases from going live."

John looked at his watch. "two hours down four to go, good luck." He said before going back to shutting down radio systems to Atlantis. "Radios are offline by the way" he added.

"That is good, now what is this...." Rodneys tablet PC beeped and he started typing, a screen appeared on the wall nearby.

"What is it?"

"Its from Sian, or a maybe a friend of hers." He showed the screen to John, and then read what it said "it says 'Skynet has breached the Old Citys defenses at noon this morning, two nights ago men reported seeing a creature with red and black wings, a moth of sorts no doubt. Skynet nearly got to the main group, had I not taken off to send this note. Sian is missing, she still hasn't returned, somethings wrong, south Shanghai is covered in darkness.' That's all I can understand right now the rest of it is times and dates. Lets see, aha here we go." Rodney noticed a button that opened a folder that Snatcher sent, it was a picture taken from a HK as she called it. It showed what could have been something painted on the ground, but Rodney doubted that mostly because everything else was red and brown with radiation zones.

"Any idea what that is?"

"Might be that giant moth this person is reporting. What was that?" the water shook. Rodney looked at a clock, they still had more then four hours to shut down most of the air force machines.

"Tide coming in I think. Wait, water doesn't make thumping noises." John said Rodney nodded and they looked at Johns screen, Skynet had gone live an hor ago and nuclear weapons were heading everywhere. "its early." John and Rodney both said as reports begain flooding the news screen, bombs going off everywhere across America and Russia.

Rodney began to painic "We are dead meat"

"No we're not."

"Yes we are, we tried to shut down Skynet, it reacted and thus activated over 12 hours early!" Rodney yelled. "For all either of us now we are leaderless because Richard Woosley was on a conferance mission in LA."

"He could be in a bunker."

"Or he could be back already before everything went to hell" Said another voice as Woosley appeared in the controlroom, he had the look of a irked off man on his face. "Took a puddlejumper has fast as I could, when the missiles were fired from our side I knew something was wrong."

"When is that report dated?" John suddenly asked Rodney about the report he just got on his computer.

"uh.... June first, just over five months ago why?"

"Does it say anything of Sian?"

Rodney shook his head, "only thing it mentions was that Sweetheart was found, Sian is missing, and south Shanghai was covered in darkness." Rodney said. Then he got another report, this one labed october tenth at two am. From Sian herself. "Hang on a second Sian sent us something."He started reading it aloud. "'To those that helped me; I cannot thank you enough for helping me get back home, something is wrong, Skynet found the Old City two days before I was sent back through the data stream to your time. You must hide the city before Skynet finds it anywhere. The portals on Earth are destoryed or guarded, even magic can't hold back Skynet for long.' Magic? What does she mean by magic?" Rodney asked.

"Maybe Gandalf showed up at the turn of the tide?" John said which earned him a clout on the side of the head from Richard. "A Lord of the Rings hater I take it?"

Rodney ignored Sheppard and noticed something else sent along with the note or letter or whatever. "What the hell?!" He opened the datafile and noticed something, it was Sian, it had to be, a picture of her no doubt, in full color. "Those things can't possibly be real..... can they?" he showed the picture to Sheppard and Woosley. They just stared at the picture, those wings looked real enough from what they could see.

"You know, that might be what she means by 'even magic can't do much'. I think what she means is that without us going to her time the war would be over before it began. But that is definately Sian alright, no mistaking that face and hair color!" John said. "Can you send a note back?"

"I could try. Maybe even try to get into a text conversaion with her perhaps?" Rodney said already typing onto his computer screen.

"Yes you could try that" John said drinking down his coffee as he watched the news reports flood in on the computer screen about the bombs falling like crazy, apparently it was not just a movie, it was all real.

Taking but a few minutes Rodney smiled "got it, now to say something, voice activation is perfect." Rodney typed a few keys. "Are you there?" He typed, having turned off the voice activation.

Two seconds later there came "I am. Dr McKay, is that you?"

"Yes, its.... us" Rodney answered back. Sheppard and Woosley leaning over his shoulders as he took a seat and motioned to John to hook up the cable to the larger screen so they could all see. "Where are you? Are you safe?"

"I don't know about safe. As to where I am...." The screen shifted a moment to show a floorplan of what used to be a car factory, a little red dot with a spinning gold ring around it showed the only human like lifesign. Apparently Sian was inside a factory of sorts. ".... I'm in a Skynet factory, they poisoned the water supply here, we have shut them down and find Snatcher."

"What day is it where you are?" Rodney asked at Sheppards request. "Time too?"

"October Tenth, two ten am, why?" Sian replied from the future. She was right, conversations could indeed be held through time.

"So it works?" Rodney typed

"What works?" came the question from the future.

"Nevermind that, Can you tell us what's going on? What's with the picture of the red and black and gold thing Snatcher sent us?" Rodney asked.

"You mean my.... my wings?" Sian asked from the future. She had searched in the bullet marked Shanghai library, then had gone to what was left of Londons Library and found what she was seeking, the Hidden Faeries would be seen by the world when magic hidden for so long would come to light during the Machine Age. Meaning the war against the machines just got some help, but what could one lone human sized faerie do?

"Yeah, those." Rodney sent back.

"Uh..... Hard to explain, but let me just say that it is time for me to go and stop the water supply from being totally rank to everyone else, Thief is already very sick because of it." Sian sent to Rodney computer before sending a small note. "And yes before you ask, these wings are real, and painful at times too. See you soon"

The screen died as Sian left the computer in the future and began doing something.

"Well... She's fine, apparently." Rodney said, John and Woosley nodded, Sian could take care of herself, they weren't as confused as before.

"Yeah but what did she mean by 'see you soon'?" John asked, "It doesn't make sense." The others couldn't answer.

****

Shanghai Skynet Factory 2028

Sian smiled, so they finally figured it all out? She thought, what took them so long? It did not matter, what mattered was to find Snatcher before something bad happened. And if she couldn't find Snatcher, set off the bombs. At least they now know what happened to me. She thought. She herself was scared out of her wits over her new.... assets, she didn't know if Johnstone was joking or telling the truth when he said that her wings were sexy on her. Then again anything on her was sexy to him and she knew that, so she just took his word for it and tried to forget of how freakish they looked. That alone proved hard to even try to do.

Sian left the computer terminal and pulled out its wires, she was amazed that it did not die when she touched it, maybe Skynet was getting ready for something? She didn't care. She moved through the factory. Making her way towards the subspace transport, hopefully this one had the datastream through time if she could talk to the others over the machine.


	3. Assault on Shanghai

Shanghai Skynet Factory 2028

Sian moved through the factory floor, placing explsions and setting the remotes as she did so. Making sure to be as quiet as she could as to not be heard. She wasn't quiet enough. She was heard by the tracked sentries that patrolled the corridors of the vast building. Gunfire rang out and Sian screamed as two shots ripped through her wings. She took off like a shot, not wanting to risk her wings being ruined even more then they already were.

Turning down a hallway Sian skidded to a halt as a pair of T-182 model terminators appeared and blocked the hallway, and both carried a machinegun. _I'm dead! The mission's a failure, Thiefs going to die any minute... Huh?_ Sian thought the Terminators never noticed her as they walked towards her, then turned left dow nanother hallway. maybe she could finish the mission. That was... odd. She thought as she went to the corner and looked in the dreiction the two human like killing machines had headed. Seeing they had their backs to her she took off down the hall to a door saying stairs and went up to the next level.

Sian scampered towards a door, and once through it vaulted the railing that closed off the area from tacked or bipedal terminator models. only the HKs large enough to fit through windows into homes and buildings were allowed there. The datastream controls just had to be on that floor.

As she rounded a corner gunfire rang out, making her dive backwards and to the floor as two HKs spotted her and opened fire. she could feel the heat of the gunfire going past her wings as she laid flat to the floor. They had to run out of ammo soon.

Then she spotted it. Wiring. _Perfect!_ Sian thought scampering on all fours towards the exposed wires. Pulling them one by one, one of them had to control the lights in the place. "YEOW!" She cired as she felt a jolt of electrical energy lance into her fingers throwing her backwards and into the oppisit wall. Leaving her dazed. She couldn't fail, failure was out of the question.

Outside the factory nonbroken lights were on the blink, some dying, others breaking and falling from a power surge. Several of the team who were waiting outside looked to one another, Thief laid in the backof a beaten truck. One of the team members, seeing the lights falling and dying went to Thief. "I think Sians' inside. Should we send Sweetheart after her so she has a way out?"

Thief shook her head. "No, Sian insisted she do this mission alone" She said quietly. It was hard to breathe, whatever Skynet had put in the water hurt her throat. "If any of us go in, her location could be known to Skynet."

"But you said anything technoledgel dies in her hands"

"Over the last six months she's learn to control that, nothing dies in her hands any more, other then small radios, maybe an ipod or mp3player. but anything else, liek a cellphone or two way walker works fine. Skynet has sensors everywhere in that building, if we go in she'd be killed." Thief took a shuddering breath and looked towards the Skynet complex. "I hope the plan works" She said before having a coughing fit.

One of the men moved forwards, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, leave me be. Get the team together, quickly" Thief said, pushing the man away.

Sweetheart beeped something, SHOULD WE SEND WEBUPLINK? It asked. It was a smart machine, after all, it had saved Sian before. When she was hunted the first time. SHOULD WE CALL THEM?

Them, who did Sweetheart mean?


End file.
